


Absolution

by JasnNCarly



Series: Jason and Carly's World [4]
Category: General Hospital
Genre: F/M, JasnNCarly, My OTP, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-05-25
Updated: 2007-05-25
Packaged: 2020-07-19 22:14:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19981369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JasnNCarly/pseuds/JasnNCarly
Summary: Michael gets a huge surprise on his birthday.





	Absolution

Continuing to clean the mess of their afternoon house party, she brushed a brown curl out of her face and inhaled deeply in reaction to the calmness of her day.  
  
There were no family arguments, no burned bridges, and the cops were not called. All in all, her son's sixteen birthday had gone perfectly.  
  
One problem consumed her now...and that was awaiting his return from a night with friends.  
  
However, her calmness soon appeared with the introduction of a familiar melody.  
  
A wide grin spread across her lips as she felt his strong embrace slide around her waist, his soft whisper in her ear claiming, "You are my...everything. You are everything, and everything is you."  
  
Swaying with him slowly to the music, she hugged his arms even tighter around herself and closed her eyes.  
  
His presence brought her a calm and security she had craved for most of her life.  
  
After a moment, she softly whispered a response, singing another line of the song, "I promise I will try until the day die to treat you like a king cause you are my everything..."  
  
He took her hand, sending her into a playful spin before bringing her back to him with a gentle tug, and held her close as they moved casually to the beat.  
  
Staring deeply into his ocean blue eyes, she found herself smiling despite herself.  
  
In another life, in a shell she hid in long ago, she would had ran away from a moment like this.   
  
She would not allow herself to enjoy it because she would be so afraid it would be taken from her...afraid it would suddenly disappear.  
  
Now, in the present, she had learned to truly savor moments like this...and she knew it was because of him.  
  
Resting her forehead against his, she let out a peaceful sigh, "I love you, Colin."  
  
His response was immediate and sincere, reenforcing her faith in him, "I love you, too, Carly."  
  
~*~  
  
From the beat he could her emerging from his home, he could see the two of them dancing in the kitchen.  
  
He smiled to himself, going to the backyard rather than entering through the door...well aware his mother would question him endlessly.  
  
 _Michael, where'd you go? Who were you with? Did you have fun, not too much, right?_  
  
Shaking his head, he caught a peek inside and saw the two of them slow dancing in the kitchen.  
  
Michael carefully backed away from the window and wandered over to the hammock between the trees in back.  
  
Swinging slowly, he grinned thoughtfully towards his mother and the man of her life.  
  
It had been the perfect day, everyone had come to the party. Family, from Port Charles and right there in Florida, had given him more than he could ask for.  
  
However, one person had missed yet another milestone in his life...failed to interact with their family.  
  
But a soft laugh left his lips as he called out softly, "You been hiding behind these trees all day, Jason?"  
  
Suddenly, a familiar shadow hovered over him before the man took a seat beside him on the hammock.  
  
"I hid behind the fence for part of the day. Your neighbors were really surprised when they got that Hawaiian vacation for this weekend only."  
  
Michael's smile widened as he glanced over into those familiar blue eyes, "Yeah, they were pretty surprised considering they never try for anything, much less some never heard of radio station."  
  
"Small price to pay."   
  
"Would have been even smaller had you just knocked on the front door, you know?"  
  
Jason glanced elsewhere, releasing an exhale patiently, "I can't do that. You know why."  
  
"Yeah, you're too afraid to admit you were wrong."  
  
"Michael, it's more than that."  
  
"Mom would've forgive you, years ago, if you had just--"  
  
"It's over. Your mother's sick of forgiving me, and I don't know how to explain it in a way that you'll understand."  
  
"I understand you're a coward." The young man inhaled deeply, staring upwards in disgust, and inquired, "So why come at all? Why would you show up every year, for a little chit chat, when you can't do the one this family has always needed you to do?"  
  
"It isn't my family."  
  
"Why? My mom went to you when she was pregnant with me. Not to AJ, or Sonny, or Lorenzo, or whoever else you think she somehow wanted more than you."  
  
"Michael, I love you. I love Morgan, and your mother...no one will ever mean to me what she has."  
  
"And it's just hard to say that to her face?"  
  
"When you've done..." His jaw tightened suddenly, his eyes misted with tears, as he struggled with the confession, "when you've done what I have to anyone, much less your mother, you don't get forgiveness. You don't get anything, and it's your own fault."  
  
"Is that why you're here still? To show me what I'm not suppose to be?"  
  
"I told you why I show up. I have to know you're all okay."  
  
"Right, because we're _**your**_ family."   
  
"I didn't come here to upset you. I--" Pausing in frustration and remorse, Jason reached into his coat pocket and extended an envelope to the boy, "I wanted you to have this...and I wanted to be here to give it to you."  
  
Michael stared at the item for a moment before accepting it with a heavy sigh, quickly ripping open the envelope. Reading the contents quickly, he frowned with a hint of amusement, "What does this mean?"  
  
"Exactly what it says."  
  
"All it says is that you owe me an adventure."  
  
"Pretty corny, right?" Jason joked, using his toes to push off the ground and send the hammock swinging slightly, and elaborated with a small grin, "Your grandmother came up with the words once I told her what I really wanted to give you for your birthday."  
  
"Grandma helped you come up with this?"  
  
"You know that Bobbie's the only reason I know anything about you...the reason I know you're doing so well in school and...college isn't too far away. So, the I.O.U. is my gift." Staring off fondly into the distance, he laughed softly to himself and shared, "When your a baby, I use to read this books about the world to you. For hours and hours, you'd just--look at me and listen to every word."   
  
The two of them shared a warm smile.  
  
Jason bowed his head sadly, somewhat choked up as he explained, "I want to be part of at least one amazing thing in your life. I want to--to take you to some place in the world and see your eyes light up the way they did when you were a kid."  
  
"I don't know what to say." Blinking back tears, Michael stared towards the note in disbelief, "There are no words."  
  
"Just promise me you'll use it one day. Promise me I can be there one day."  
  
"I promise." He met his eyes with strength, conflicted by a misty gaze, and stated sternly, "But I want something more than this. I want more than some expensive trip. And the only person who can give me this gift is you."  
  
"Anything, you don't even have to ask."  
  
"I want you there the day I graduate." Michael's request stunned him but pleased him nonetheless, "I want my father there the day that I get my diploma."  
  
"Michael, I--"  
  
"Jason Morgan, you're my dad whether you like it or not." His words caused a single tear to fall from his steel gaze, a single tear before his eyes wander again from the young man, "You can't get away from it or deny it. You are the only father I've ever known. You come around once every year thinking that it's too little, too late, but it isn't. Not for me. I know you love me and this family, even if you choose to cut yourself out of it."  
  
Jason inhaled deeply, stung by the truth behind his words.  
  
"I _**knew**_ you'd be here tonight. I knew you would be here for, every birthday, since mama took us and left Port Charles. And you never miss a cue. But I'm asking you there to be around more than one day...it's like the biggest day before the rest of my life, you know?"  
  
"I want to be there."  
  
"Then you will be."   
  
Michael offered a confident yet worried smile, one that sent Jason spinning into memories of his mother...memories of Carly's exact same smile.  
  
They sat in silence for a second, gathering their thoughts.  
  
Eventually, the young man once again broke the silence.  
  
Gazing towards the kitchen window once more, he absorbed the sight of his mother and her boyfriend, "She's gonna marry him, you know?"  
  
In his raspy, whisper of breath, he shared the pain with his son in the span of a sentence, "...yeah, I know."  
  
"She's loves him."  
  
"I know."  
  
"He's good to her."  
  
"She's deserves that."  
  
"But she'll never love anyone the way she loved you, trust them that way, she's told me that. When--whenever I've asked about you, about what you two had, she just...she gets tears in her eyes and smiles real sad...like she's broken..." He turned to Jason, adding quietly, "like you do."  
  
"It's in the past."  
  
"And it's the only thing I've hated about you. What you did to her...it's the only thing I can never proud of about you. The one thing I just never got."  
  
"I can't make you understand something that..." Shaking his head slightly, Jason admitted, "I've never got myself."  
  
"You could've apologized."  
  
"It would've never been the same."  
  
"You can't know that."  
  
"I do know that. I hurt her one too many times and," He took in the sight of a joyful Carly and nodded slowly, "I know that I don't get anymore chances. Not then, not now...not ever."  
  
"And that doesn't bug you?" Michael's breath grew shaky, tears beginning to strangle him with this repetitive conversation...the same one they had every year, "Don't you miss us, Dad?"  
  
"All the time." He confirmed, smiling weakly towards the boy, and squeezed his shoulder, and spoke candidly, "More than you'll ever know...I miss--all of this--very much. But...I did it. I know I did."  
  
"You can change it."  
  
"No, no, Michael, it's...it's time."  
  
"Time for what? To walk away from us?"  
  
"Never. But..." Jason nearly passed out, strangled by his heartache, and insisted, "your mother deserves to be happy. She needs to have someone in her life that can make her a better person for you, for Morgan. Not me..."  
  
"I just--I don't see how you can keep doing this. Keep leaving us behind."  
  
"I don't. And I never will. I'm always there, even if you don't see me, and you know that."  
  
After a moment, Michael met his eyes and agreed softly, "...yeah, I know."  
  
"I'm not walking away. I can't. But...I'm not stepping into that house either. I'm going to be there for your adventure, and...I'll be at your graduation. I promise."  
  
"And mom? What about her? She'll never know?"  
  
"If I can stay out of her life, then that's what I want to do."  
  
"That's just it, you can't. You never have. Because--me and Morgan, we're her life. And you're a big part of ours. We are a family."  
  
Jason nodded slowly, thoughtfully, "We always will be."  
  
"You know...no matter who..." Hanging his head, stumbling on his thoughts, he fought to say the perfect thing, "no one could ever be you. No one else could ever be my dad. And...I just--I really need you to know that, okay?"  
  
"...okay."  
  
"Okay." Michael tightened his jaw and drew in a deep breath, glancing in once more before saying the words they mutually dreaded, "I gotta go."  
  
"I know."  
  
"Mama, she--she's probably freaking out and I--"  
  
"I understand."  
  
"I love you, Dad."  
  
"I love you, too, Michael....always."  
  
Nodding to himself, Michael stood to his feet while Jason merely watched in a pain all his own.  
  
Michael's lip quivered in sadness as began the slow walk inside, thinking of all the things they had discussed, and stopped only to hear those familiar words.  
  
"Happy Birthday, Michael."  
  
Turning towards him, the young man accepted one last proud look from his father and offered a smile, stuck in one thought.  
  
 _I'll see you next year._

  
_**The End** _


End file.
